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"If You Desire Peace, Cultivate Justice"

by Juan Somavia
Director-General of the
International
Labour Organization7 May 2002

In awarding the Nobel
Peace Prize to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in
1969, the Nobel Committee referred to the motto enshrined in the
foundations of the ILO's original building in Geneva, "Si vis
pacem, cole justitiam" - "If you desire peace, cultivate
justice." As we mark the centenary of the Nobel Peace Prize, it
is worth recalling what inspired these words and why they remain
relevant.

ILO History

The ILO has lived through one of the most
turbulent centuries in human history. Delivering the Novel
Lecture in Oslo on 11 December 1969, the Director-General of the
ILO, David Morse said "there are still dangerous explosives in
the hidden depths of the community ... the defusing of these
explosives, and the building of a truly peaceful world order
based on social justice, is the task of the ILO." Established in
1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles, the ILO's Constitution
begins with the affirmation "that universal and lasting peace can
be established only if it is based upon social justice". The ILO
was founded to promote the fundamental rights of workers, to
promote remunerative employment, to provide social protection and
to improve conditions of work through social dialogue. It is the
only public international organization, and the only one in the
United Nations system, which is tripartite, where workers and
employers enjoy equal rights with governments in representation
and decision-making.

The ILO lived through the Great Depression
and was the only part of the League of Nations system which
survived the Second World War. The experience of war compelled
the Organization to reaffirm its principles for the post-war
world. This resulted in the adoption of the Declaration of
Philadelphia in 1944 which now forms part of the Constitution of
the ILO. The key significance of the Philadelphia Declaration was that it placed
the human being at the centre of development and expanded the
mandate of the Organization to embrace the realm of economic and
financial policy. It firmly established the notion that economic
and social policies were interdependent. In the words of the
Declaration, "All human beings, irrespective of race, creed or
sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and
their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity,
of economic security and equal opportunity ... It is the
responsibility of the International Labour Organization to
examine and consider all international and financial policies and
measures in the light of this fundamental objective."

In the decades following the Second World
War, the ILO moved swiftly and creatively to navigate its passage
through a period of ideological confrontation and decolonization.
It was during this period that the ILO concretized its global
commitment to build peace through orderly social change within
countries, as a prerequisite for peace between countries. That
goal remains perennially relevant.

By any measure, the ILO has been highly
successful by providing a framework of law, institutions and
public advocacy to bring social progress to many nations,
particularly in the industrialized countries, where social change
since 1919 has been remarkable. The ILO also helped to underpin
the social and political stability of the post-war world by
creating a structure of international law upon which national
laws could be based, and by the development of institutions for
voice and social dialogue. During the cold war, the Organization
maintained its universality while insisting uncompromisingly on
its basic values and the manner in which they were to be
implemented. All this was no less than building the social
infrastructure for peace. ILO standards provided a basis for
orderly social change and its technical programmes contributed to
social stability and eased the traumas of poverty and
unemployment.

Responding to Globalization

With the end of the cold war and the
acceleration of globalization, the Organization is once again
displaying its capacity for adaptation and renewal by crafting a
response to address the widespread anxiety over the effects of
globalization.

Many aspects of the world at the beginning
of the 21st century resemble those at the beginning of the 20th
century. In terms of development, opportunity and technology, the
relative gaps between the haves and have-nots still exist: 1.2
billion people live in poverty and 1 billion are unemployed or
underemployed. Half the world's population lives on less than 2
dollars a day.

While some believe that globalization is
the source of wealth and welfare, others think that globalization
is the source of persistent inequality and social exclusion. For
too many people the world seems full of opportunities but they do
not see how to connect their lives to the opportunities
available. Growing insecurity and a sense that the rules of the
game are unfair give rise to silent frustrations in the hearts of
many individuals and their families. Questions of legitimacy and
sustainability have led to increasingly acrimonious exchanges,
most visible in the protests that regularly accompany major
meetings of the international financial and trade
institutions.

Clearly the present model of globalization
is losing support. What is needed is globalization with equity.
The ILO is helping to craft a model of globalization that
benefits the poor and excluded, and which reduces uncertainty and
increases opportunities for all.

To begin with, we should look at
globalization through the eyes of people and be capable of
responding to their hopes and needs. The essence of what people
want remains constant, across cultures and levels of development.
Everybody seeks a fair chance to prosper in life by their own
endeavours. They also want a second chance when they take risks
and fail. Under these circumstances, it is clear that the kind of
future people want is one that can deliver opportunities for
decent work in a sustainable environment.

Even in the midst of globalization, the meaning of work in
people's lives has not changed. Work is a defining feature of
human existence. It is the means of sustaining life and of
meeting basic needs. It is also the activity through which
individuals affirm their own identity, both to themselves and to
those around them. It is crucial to individual choice, to the
welfare of families and to the stability of societies.

Decent Work

The goal of decent work connects with
people's hopes to obtain productive work in conditions of
freedom, equity, security and human dignity. It is about jobs and
future prospects; about working conditions; about balancing work
and family life, putting children through school or getting them
out of child labour. It is about gender equality, equal
recognition, and enabling women to make choices and take control
of their lives. It is about your personal abilities to compete in
the market place, keep up with new technological skills and
remain healthy. It is about not being discriminated against; it
is about having a voice in your workplace and your community. In
the most extreme situations it is about moving from subsistence
to existence. For many, it is the primary route out of poverty.
For many others, it is about realizing personal aspirations in
their daily existence and about solidarity with others. And
everywhere, and for everybody, decent work is about securing
human dignity.

How can the goal of decent work be
achieved? The ILO sees it as the synthesis of four strategic
objectives. Achieving universal respect for fundamental
principles and rights at work; the creation of greater employment
and income opportunities for women and men; extending social
protection and promoting social dialogue. These objectives are
closely intertwined. Respect for fundamental principles and
rights is a precondition for the construction of a socially
legitimate and equitable labour market; and social dialogue the
means by which workers and employers achieve this. Employment
creation is the essential instrument for raising living standards
and widening access to incomes. Social protection is the means to
provide security of income and of the working environment.

Promoting gender equality in the world of
work is central to the work of the ILO. While poverty affects
both men and women, there are gender-based differences in the
processes that make them poor. In the world of work, women earn
less, are more often unemployed, and largely restricted to
low-skilled, part-time, informal, unregulated and unstable jobs.
Women tend to receive inadequate social protection, or none at
all. And in most circumstances, breaking out of poverty is more
difficult for women than for men. A gender perspective is
therefore an imperative for the ILO, not merely for reasons of
equity and fairness, but also because it is part of the very
substance of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda.

The Decent Work Agenda is also an
integrated vision of development. The ILO has consistently
maintained that economic and social development are two aspects
of the same process which sustain and reinforce each other.
Decent work promotes employment, participation and social equity
- the foundations of the development process. At the ILO, we seek
to mainstream development into all our activities with a specific
focus on the problems of the working poor, for it is among the
workers in the informal economy that the problems of poverty and
social exclusion are greatest.

The Decent Work Agenda does not attempt to
reproduce labour conditions of advanced countries in least
developed countries. Instead, it responds to shared expectations
of citizens around the world, that every country set its own
goals with due regard to national circumstances and
realities.

Today, there is a massive decent work
deficit expressed in the absence of sufficient employment
opportunities, inadequate social protection, the denial of rights
at work and failures in social dialogue. The objective of the ILO
is to reduce this deficit, and we do it in a number of ways.

Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work marked a reaffirmation by member
States to "respect, to promote and to realize in good faith" the
right to freedom of association and the effective recognition of
the right to collective bargaining, and to the elimination of all
form of forced or compulsory labour, the effective abolition of
child labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation. These rights are valid in all
countries - at whatever stage of development - whether the
sweatshops and "inner cities" of the North, or the shanty towns
and export processing zones of the South. They are universal
enabling rights. The most fundamental of these rights is the
right to voice - to organize and be heard, to be able to defend
your interests and to collective bargaining. It is the foundation
on which other rights can be fully exercised.

The Declaration places an obligation on all
member countries of the ILO to respect the fundamental principles
involved, whether or not they have ratified the relevant ILO
Conventions. The Declaration stresses that labour standards
should not be used for protectionist trade purposes. It is
promotional in nature and provides information about economic and
social development needs relating to these rights and principles,
thereby assisting in the design of technical cooperation
programmes.

Protecting children is one of the essential
elements in pursuit of social justice and universal peace. Child
labour works against investment in human capability, against the
provision of decent and dignified work and against the reduction
of poverty. In its worst forms, it robs children of their health,
their education and even their lives. The ILO estimates that 250
million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are at work. In
June 1999 a new Convention concerning the worst forms of child
labour was adopted which has enjoyed the most rapid rate of
ratification in ILO history. A growing number of countries are
seeking assistance from the ILO's International Programme for the
Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). IPEC goes beyond trying to
stop children from working. It tries to promote development by
providing adequate educational alternatives to children, and
access to income and security for the parents.

How does the ILO promote workers' rights?
To begin with, a major responsibility of the ILO is to legislate
international labour standards. The tripartite support of
workers, employers and governments gives them an unparalleled
social legitimacy. When ratified by national Parliaments, they
become national law. The ILO has an independent supervisory
system that monitors the implementation of these standards in a
transparent and systematic way. National law gives ILO
Conventions local enforcement power. At the national level, there
may be labour courts, mediation systems or other institutions to
support putting standards into practice. Strong labour inspection
systems have not only a policing, but also an educational role,
which technical cooperation can help to strengthen.

Decent Employment and Income
Opportunity

In order for work to be decent, there must
first be work. The ILO is playing its part as the lead agency in
the field of employment and enterprise creation at the national
level, as well as in joint activities with international
financial institutions and other UN agencies.

The World Employment Report is the ILO's
flagship publication in the employment field. Key Indicators of
the Labour Market, another wide-ranging reference tool, provides
the reader with concise explanations and analysis of data on the
world's labour markets. Country employment reviews help member
States give substance to their commitment to full, productive and
freely chosen employment through an appropriate choice of
economic and social policies. While most countries now prioritize
skills development, investment in human resource development by
both private and public sectors remains inadequate. The ILO deals
with these issues through a programme on knowledge, skills and
employability.

Sustained growth of enterprises is
essential to employment creation and economic growth in open
economies. The ILO has developed a wide range of
enterprise-related programmes, with particular emphasis on
entrepreneurship development, management training and small
enterprise promotion. In terms of generating jobs, the ILO's main
emphasis is on the promotion of small enterprises and the
upgrading of micro-enterprises in the informal sector which
generate most new jobs worldwide.

Social Protection for All

Access to an adequate level of social
protection is recognized in the ILO's Declaration of Philadelphia
and a number of international labour standards as a basic right
of all individuals. Yet in many countries reality falls short of
the ideals of the Declaration. About 80% of the world's
population is excluded from any type of formal social security
protection. The ILO recognizes that while excessive security can
induce passivity, adequate economic and social security is
essential for productive work and human dignity.

Work-related accidents and diseases are a
serious problem in both developed and developing countries. The
ILO estimates that workers suffer 250 million accidents a year.
ILO action in the field of occupational safety and health pursues
a two-pronged approach. It creates alliances and partnerships
with governments, social partners, NGO's and human rights groups
in advocacy campaigns. The ILO also supports action at the
national level through direct technical assistance, with
particular focus on hazardous occupations.

Adequate working conditions are central to
the achievement of long-term sustainable growth, good living
standards and social harmony. Major ILO activities cover labour
inspection, fighting substance abuse at work, maternity
protection, violence at work, changes in working time
arrangements and organization of work. Some 90 million people now
work and live outside their country and nationality, and their
numbers are growing rapidly in some regions on account of
worsening economic imbalances. The ILO works to protect the
fundamental rights and freedoms of migrants for employment. Of
particular concern are women migrants who are often in
low-skilled occupations and vulnerable to exploitation.

Strengthening Tripartism and Social
Dialogue

Achieving the objectives of decent work for
all requires strong social partners and effective social dialogue
and tripartism. Tripartism is the distinguishing characteristic
of the ILO among other international organizations. Fair terms of
employment, decent working conditions, economic and social
development can only be achieved with a broad based effort and
the consent of workers, employers and governments. The ILO helps
them to establish sound labour relations, adapt labour laws to
meet changing economic and social needs and improve labour
administration. The ILO assists workers' and employers'
organizations to reach out to new constituencies, especially
women and youth, and to improve the quality of services they
offer to their members.

A Social Pillar for the Global Economy

The ILO is working with others in the
international community, national governments, and workers and
employers groups, to create a system of common values and
policies so that more countries and individuals are able to
benefit from opportunities in the global economy.

This requires greater policy integration at
the level of different institutions and the development
community, and placing employment at the core of development and
poverty eradication policies. For example, the ILO is working
with the Bretton Woods institutions to build the goals of
employment and decent work into country-level poverty reduction
strategies. We are a part of the United Nations Policy Network on
Youth Employment, a partnership between the United Nations, the World
Bank and the ILO to determine what works in combating youth
unemployment. And we work with UNCTAD on making employment part
of the strategy for the least developed countries.

The global economy can deliver decent jobs
and enhance security as a foundation of sustainable development.
Many of the factors which need to be tackled lie in the global
economy, such as trade, capital flows and cross-border production systems.
Promoting decent work also means changing the way the global economy works,
so that
its benefits reach more and more
people.

Cultivating justice and achieving peace in
a globalizing world will need a greater sense of common purpose
to shared goals at the international and national levels. It
requires integrated thinking to address the integrated problems
of society and the economy. It means guiding policy-making with a
moral compass, ensuring that decisions are based on universally
shared principles of equity and equality, without losing sight of
the need for sustained economic growth. It is about linking
justice and economic progress in practical ways.

While many international instruments and
institutions already exist, no single institution can generate
social progress in the global economy on its own. The ILO's
Decent Work Agenda is a realistic means to combine social
progress and economic efficiency. It is a blueprint without
borders, leading us in the direction of greater equity, security
and stability. The ILO intends to make it an important
contribution in the worldwide movement to globalize social
justice and secure peace.